Miss Unorganized

I have come to the conclusion that I am just a mess when it comes to keeping my apartment organized. Some people are great at it, I however am not one of those people. I aspire to be one when I grow up though. It's just a lot of effort, for me anyway. Take my sister for instance, though, she is Miss Organization and she makes it look so effortless. Then there are most people who are right in the middle of the spectrum and then there is me, Miss Unorganized. I wouldn't say that my apartment looks like I am a hoarder by any means but it looks unorganized. It's clean enough, the bathroom is clean and the kitchen is clean but there is usually stuff everywhere.

All of this has made us decide that we need a bigger place. But will that place just allow me more room to be unorganized. I don't want that. Yet, I really don't know how to change. For instance, I can leave my hamper of clean clothes by the front door for a week and it doesn't bother me at all. And I have this watermelon that has been in my fridge for two weeks that I need to cut and I just haven't done it. (How long is watermelon good for anyways?) That's just not normal. How do I get to the point where that sort of thing bothers me? I just don't know. I can trip over the same show five times and still not move it. I don't think that I can chalk it all up to laziness. A good portion of it yes, but not all of it. I just need some sort of cleaning regimen, I think that might be the ticket. I do notice that when Rodger is here I get a lot more done (on weeknights, at least, not so much on the weekends) because I feel a bit more motivation. When I am here by myself it is just so easy to lay in bed and watch television or be online all night rather than get up and do something.

Due to all of this I have decided that Saturday is "Organizing the Apartment Day". I even put it on our Google calendar. There will be trash bags, boxes to put garage sale stuff in, and cleaning products. This apartment felt really big when I first moved in and now it is completely full so it's time to clean some things out. And then if we do decide to move at least there will be less to move.

From Saturday on I am going to make it a priority to keep things a bit more clean and organized. Wish me luck!

Derby Days

A few weeks ago Vickie and I ran in the Santa Anita "Derby Days" 5K. I hadn't been running as much as I had leading up to the 5K that I did in December so it was a little rougher but still fun.

This picture was taken a few minutes before some woman ran us over with her stroller. Apparently it's okay to run people over if you say "excuse me" half a second before you mow them over. Not to mention there were way too many people to be running with a stroller. I couldn't believe how many people participated in this race.



The run started in the race track parking lot then went across the street to the arboretum, through the arboretum, back across the street, behind the race track, through the tunnel into the race track, and we finished on the actual race track. They even showed us running by on the big screen like the horses.




My finishing time was slower than my previous 5K and I didn't place in my age group but it was a lot of fun and it's always nice to have a sense of accomplishment. And it was great to do the run with Vickie.

Thanks Mom, Dad, and Rodger for coming out and supporting!

Next up the 5K in Rialto at the end of June.

"Cause I don't shine if you don't shine"

I did it. I did the 5K. It was Sunday in Hemet at The Tinsel Triathlon. The majority of the people there were doing the triathlon including Rodger and my dad. Vickie was supposed to do the 5K with me but she was under the weather all weekend. There was quite a bit of weather during the weekend but the clouds parted Sunday morning and there was no rain until after the race and it was surprisingly warmer than I thought it would be.






I had two goals for this race. One was to finish and one was to run the entire thing (no matter how slow). I did finish and I only walked twice. Once to take off one of the layered shirts I was wearing and the other time for a small rest. I wasn't running fast for most of it but it was a good starting point. A man I was talking to for a minute during the run said that since this was my first 5K I should set the bar low, just like in life. That made me laugh.



There were times during the 5K that I was really tired of running but mostly I was just motivated to finish and when I turned the corner to see the finish I actually felt like I could have run longer. I even sprinted the last 100 yards are so. It felt great to have my mom cheering me into the finish and taking my picture.





Closing in on the finish line.



My finishing time. Not too bad, a little over 11 minute miles. I wasn't wearing a watch so I didn't track my mile to mile speed.


One low of the run was when I asked someone if they knew when they would be handing out water and she said that she didn't think there was water on the run course. I really needed some water. It was a short-lived low though as not too much further down the road I saw the water table. I took three cups and poured one over my head for dramatic effect. Even better was when the kids handing out water had crossed the street to hand us water on the last turn.

Rodger and my dad did great also. This is the third year in a row that they did this triathlon. They were troopers to run, bike, and swim in the cold and after the roads were so wet with rain.

The 5K turned out to be a lot of fun and was easier than I thought it would be. I must say I am a little proud of myself for accomplishing this goal and am looking forward to doing another one and possibly working my way up to a longer distance race.

Oh and by the way I took third place in my age group (24-29).

Oh and by the way there were three people in my age group. :)

Baby Steps

("Bob, there is a ground breaking new book out.")

(Baby steps get on the elevator.)

I have started running. And this isn't going to be the half-hearted attempt that I usually give running. You know doing it occasionally and then forgetting about it. Running is just not easy for me (is it for anyone?) but I have set a goal for myself to do a 5K in December and then see what happens from there. Having a goal for my running will keep me motivated. I have ran two nights in a row so far. Definitely baby steps so far such as "just run until the end of the block and then you can walk" but I keep telling myself that the more I do it the easier it will get.

It's funny because while I am running I get all of these ideas in my head about doing half-marathons and full marathons and I am really motivated but then when I am done running and sweating and out of breath I think to myself "I don't want to do that again any time soon". But I will because I want to prove to myself that I can accomplish this goal of mine.

So even though it is only "baby steps" at first I am off and RUNNING!

Cooking Challenge

I am making a challenge to myself partly inspired by "Julie and Julia", which I haven't seen yet but really want to, but mostly as a goal/challenge to myself.

I am going to cook something new once a week. I want to do this partly to expand my cooking/recipe/food repertoire and partly because I have some great recipes I want to try but never seem to get around to. And also because it will be good to cook in my kitchen more.

I have some cookbooks, online recipes, and good meal ideas from friends and family that I have been wanting to try and I think that this challenge will give me the initiative I have been needing. I also recently subscribed to "Everyday Rachael Ray" and I want to try those recipes. This self imposed challenge will give me the "get up and go" I need to get cooking.

I will make dinners, deserts, drinks, appetizers, whatever sounds good that week and fits into the schedule and then I will blog the recipe, the cooking experience, the result, and the reactions.

I am pretty excited about this.

It starts next week. Probably Wednesday night, probably start with a dinner.

My apron and cooking utensils are ready and SO AM I.